I have 4 fruits on my NZL that are not as green as a month ago. I was wondering on this subject to.

I have a small NZL tree from FW (Entry size, got it 3 months ago).

It has 1 lemon, a very small one, and it has been changing color lately, and I'm worried since it has orange mandarin-like tones. Is it normal? Isn't it supposed to be yellow?

My NZL has 4 lemons It is much earlier in the color change process. It is getting freckles and patches of off green that is definitely orange and not yellow. It is going directly to orange. Let it ripen and eat, save the seeds and plant them. You can then graft them with scion off your grafted NZL

Steve

I just picked my greenest NZL fruit. It was about 1/4 the sour of a Meyer lemon and about the same sweetness. It had nice lemony flavor that you can't get from a meyer lemon because the Meyer's tartness blocks any other tastes. I picked it because the tree is trying to put out new growth and flower buds. It will be very hard for the tree to ripen the fruit at this time of the year. Mine was the same size as yours.

Steve

If you want to catch the subtleties of a lemon, it is best to mix it with a little water and a little sugar. I can't catch that trying to taste a Meyer by itself; but EVERYONE notices when it is used in food or drink.

Very nice Steve.

Brian

Meyer is probably the better flavor lemon as John is hinting towards.

But lemonade is the practical out of hand lemon. Like a Valencia but lemon.

It was not because she was a genius that my Mother won blue ribbon 4 years running at the California State for her lemon meringue pie; it was because she was the first to make it with Meyer lemon and the difference in tasting is astonishing. I am not a genius because my Mayancello is universally loved without regard to age, gender, or background; it is because it is made with fresh Meyer lemons. If you have ever had a perfectly made lemon drop at your favorite bar; it is something like that but better. My Hollandaise is a huge hit... because it is made with Meyers; my ceviche is the favorite of the family.. because....

But you won’t be giving Meyers to a little kid. This particular category goes to lemonade and lemonade only.

I moved a lot the the last couple years so I don’t have my trees anymore but the fruit I got from California was literally the perfect lemon flavored fruit that was tart but sweet like a perfectly ripe Valencia.

As far as when to harvest, I got my box from ripetoyou in the middle of March 2016. At least that’s what the picture I have is dated for.

If I were to do any cooking, lemonade drinking, or lemon marmalade making I would use Meyer lemons hands down. We don't cook those kinds of dishes so I will stick with out of hand citrus. If we bake a pie we will buy Meyer lemons instead of lemons. John, if you start selling yours up here we will buy them for these dishes.

Meyer lemons to a kid? We have Meyer lemon popsicles, Meyer lemon freeze, Meyer lemon cardamom ice cream; and of course, when the family goes to the beach house, Meyer lemon lemonade.

Pip,

Check this out.. http://www.lemonladies.com/

I don't have first hand experience with them; but they look to be seriously dedicated to quality and customer service. To the ladies... sorry, if I have over inflated your market.

I do not think we should compare Meyer lemons and NZ lemonades. Yes, they are both lemon hybrids but Meyers are still traditional acidic lemons albeit sweeter and more delicate and lemonades are orange-sweet citrus fruits with a lemon aroma and taste (love this combination!!!). They are just two absolutely different animals and they are not competitors.

I can't wait to have my own lemonades. I know that Australians and NZers love them. It is a very popular home garden tree and I am glad that I have one too :)

For now, I just have a mini lemonade. Hopefully, I will have bigger ones next season.

I caved again and picked my second NZL. While this one is still light green it is still 3 weeks ahead of the first one in maturity.

Steve

Was it sweet already?

Very mild sweetness out of hand good taste with half the sour of my first one. My guess it will loose a little more sour and gain sweetness as it turns yellow.

John, do you have a recipe for that ice cream? I'm going to try growing cardamom soon, and maybe my Meyer will grace me with fruit next year.

I also want a NZL, of course. But first I am going to get a sunquat, as I am hoping to eat them whole, like a kumquat.

The Meyer lemon cardamom ice cream is not my recipe; I got it, I think from the Los Angeles Times... You can google it and you will find it.

thanks for the tip;I found the recipe.

Can you actually eat a sunquat a la lemonade or a sweet (Meiwa) kumquat?

I always thought it was more like Nagami (which is not edible as it is in my book LOL).

The Meiwa kumquat is less sour than most of the mandarins I find at the store and good to eat out of hand. The sweetness is in the skin and comes in much as an after taste as the skin oils take more time. My NZL was also less sour than a mandarin but only slightly sweet. I have never had a sunquat.

Never had a Kumquat or Sunquat but.... from eating my Limequat, it was very good. Both sweet and sour like a candy from the store. I recommend cutting them in half or quarters.

I much prefer a NZL while it is still quite green. I just picked one today and ate it out of hand. The fruit looked to be 65% yellow 35% green, and the fruit was fairly soft. The taste was OK, but tasted like lemonade that had been mixed with too much water.

I ate a yellow one last year and it did not taste watered down to me.

Silica, do you have a mature tree?

Mature NZL trees should produce very sweet fruits.

I don't have a mature tree

Steve

Mine is almost twice smaller and from a very bad FW's NZL 2017 batch. It has been doing pretty good recently though and I hope my fruit will be sweet. I will wait a little longer, maybe one more week.

I am sure my fruits will be much sweeter in 3-4 years.

I have just harvested my only tiny lemonade from my little tree.

I am wondering whether I actually have a NZL. The fruit is orange inside and outside. Should be lemony yellow. And it tasted sour without any sweetness. I would say it tasted like a Meyer lemon that was picked a little too early.

I have seen and tried a lemonade only once and it looked like a smaller Eureka lemon but was sweet.

Maybe FW sent me a wrong tree?

Ask 4 winds with pictures.

Already did. I will post what they say and when.

Mine fell off and i found it in the pot. It was mostly light green with touches of yellow with a patch of mostly yellow on one side. It tasted like a lemon with about 1/3 the tartness of a Meyer. It came off to soon

NZL update:

I contacted FW and my suspicions were confirmed -- it was a Rangpur. Ashley from FW was very nice though, apologized and promised me to send a tree ASAP. And she did! Thank you, FW! I received my NZL in just 2 days.

The tree itself is very small but looks very green and healthy.

P.S. Now I need to learn more about Rangpur trees. :)

Small trees are better than big trees. They don't have root wrap or PTSD scars from periods of bad care and neglect. I have dealt with to many trees suffering from PTSD

Nice looking tree for an entry level. I saw that they were available, but I was afraid it would get freeze damage during transit. Lucky you!

Nice tree!

I am curious to know what experience folks have with the cold hardiness of the NZL. I realize that the mandarin or orange cross to Meyer may or may not have given it a bit more hardiness. But i'd love to get opinions as to relative toughness as I am debating where to plant in my yard... and I have micro-climates that may or may not be a match. - George

Very nice looking NZL tree, Mikhail. When you received your first NZL tree from Four Winds did it come with the id tag? How did Ashley explain the mix up? I am curious if other customers who ordered the Lemonade tree at the same time received the right tree..

poncurusguy, I sure hope that this one will grow fast. I heard that FW NZL is a fairly vigorous tree. Unfortunately, there is no rootstock info from FW.

Denise, fortunately for me, I live just 1.5-hour drive away from FW and it was not a concern. However, I was worried to receive an unhealthy tree since last NZL September batch was pretty bad but this tree is very healthy looking.

Molewacker, a good question about hardiness. Hopefully, someone will know something. I am still thinking whether to inground or container it next summer/fall.

I have an interesting microclimate. We are protected by Mount Diablo (fewer cold winds from SF bay and my house is just one mile away from the Delta (temperature control). So, cold California nights are slightly warmer here :)

jinnylea, it had a tag.

Photo from Sep 2017:

Ashley just confirmed that it was a Rangpur, apologized and promised to send me a proper tree. I think they handled it well. I lost 6 months but at least I have two trees now :)

Meyer Lemon vs New Zealand "Lemonade" Lemon! 🍋🍋 Taste Test Comparison! 🍋🍋 (youtube.com)